


ren's summertime sadne-WHOLESOMENESS

by brynhildvelvet



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Character Study, Depressed Ren, Gen, Ren seeking out his friends for comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 15:08:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20509025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brynhildvelvet/pseuds/brynhildvelvet
Summary: It's summer break, Ren's bored. So, even though no one is free, he goes on a journey through the city to seek out his friends. At least, it's better than staying inside sleeping his days away.Their presence may help him reconcile with troubling feelings he's been fostering regarding his past.Written for burningupzine.





	ren's summertime sadne-WHOLESOMENESS

**Author's Note:**

> this is originally for the burningupzine! it feels so long and kind of messy to me....my impatience to post really messes up my ability to edit this. i give you this product that i don't know what to do with anymore. sad ren feels is an underappreciated feel
> 
> summer's ending here, good time to get this out. i hope yall had a good one.

Summer break, and Amamiya Ren sat by the attic window; opened to let in the cool morning air.

It was early yet. The world outside still a dim, cool blue with the sun’s fingers slowly spreading over weathered rooftops. The shops opening below in the sleepy alleyways.

Metal gates rattled as they are pulled up. Murmuring and greetings floating on a mellow breeze.

Everybody was starting to busy themselves. Even the call of cicadas rising in volume signaled the bug's seasonal occupation in a search for mates.

Ren wasn’t busy with anything. For today…

Nothing. Being a leader was a lot, he’ll admit. He's the Great Phantom Thief, sure, but sometimes, sometimes, he has humble, modest wants. Sometimes, he just wants to be nobody, nothing; to any outsider eyes just be a boy and his cat. They’ve stolen Futaba’s heart, now the only thing for him to do is wait.

Arms propped on the sill, his head laid on his elbow, Ren can feel the cooler temperature still permeating the air, before the sun fully rises and turns outside into a disorientating dreamscape and hellscape wrapped in one. It’s comfortable. He is soothed sitting and listening to the sounds of the world; the windchimes coaxing him onto the path to dreams again. Idly, he imagines himself a cat, tail swishing and curling languidly on the mussed up covers.

“Ren! Oi!”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t fall asleep!” Says the voice belonging to one Morgana, right on time too; he feels like he was almost asleep already. Morgana creates a map out Ren’s legs and left thigh, leading him to the empty space of his crossed legs and forcing his whiskers practically up Ren's nose if he didn't move his head to the side for him.

“You slept all day yesterday!” He continues, adamant and full of his unusual wisdom as always.

“Mona, stop yelling.” Ren whines, rolling his head on his folded arms. He slumps over limply from his position to lie flat on his back with all his limbs splayed. Morgana navigates his uncooperative charge like a particularly skilled mountain climber.

“You can’t stop me!" The cat says with distinct glee. Feline smile evident in his voice as he launches into annoyance unique to his kin.

"Ren Ren Ren Ren Ren Ren Ren -”

The boy whose-name-might-be-Ren looks up and around as if in confusion from where he curled up on his side.

“What is that sound? Is that my name?”

Morgana promptly squirms in between his arms to start wiggling relentlessly. His soft fur - courtesy of herbal baths using fancy soap Ren buys just for him - rubs against Ren’s bared arms and neck. Before he can even think about it, his delight makes its appearance in peals of laughter; breaking apart the still morning air of the attic.

“Hey hey, are you gonna get up, hey.” The unfortunately delightful fur baby in Ren’s face says. He bats at Ren’s face playfully.

“Okay!” Ren finally relents with a grin as he sits up, “but what are we going to do?” He pouts a little while he rubs one hand over Morgana’s exposed belly.

“I know no one is free to hang out, how about we go visit them?” Morgana says, stretching out on the bed on his side, his little toes spreading, “at least let’s go out. It’s the cityyy, come on!”

“Yeah you’re right.” Ren says, and then blithely as he grabs one of Morgana’s paws, squeezing the pad, “even though I hate to admit it.”

“Hey!”

Ren laughs a little, because Morgana's suggestion has blown wind in his metaphorical sails, and with one last squeeze of Morgana's paw, he knows his mind is made up. He goes downstairs to freshen up before they head out.

Best before he changes his mind. Ever since they stole Futaba's heart, Ren could tell he's been a bit of a funk, barely going outside to see anyone. Everyone's been busy, oddly, and it's easy to just slide into that bit of ennui that he's usually distracted from with responsibilities.

* * *

“Just as well that we’re going out. I’m not going to let you sleep the whole day for the third day in a row!” Morgana says with as much force his little voice can carry. He is Ren’s personal bag gremlin.

“You also slept the whole time with me though….” Ren says to him, ducking his head as he speaks.

“Ah - ! But - that's, it’s just, you know! If you’re sleeping, it makes me feel sleepy too,” Morgana mumbles.

“Actually,” Ren yawns exaggeratedly, “thinking about it is making me tired again…”

“Ah, ah! Don’t you dare, you just had coffee too. We’re going to visit Ryuji right now.” Says his little commander, and Ren, aware that he has claws that he’s not afraid to use on his vulnerable back, obeys.

So he goes, hands in pockets, toeing his way down the sidewalk. Still rubbing his eyes and yawning as the city continues waking up.

* * *

It’s just a short train ride and walk to where Ryuji works. The trains were still crowded, Ren hugs his bag to his chest and gets what glimpses of the pale blue morning sky from where he stands that he can.

Thankfully, the shop Ryuji works in is located in a quiet neighborhood in Shibuya, away from the business center. Ren ducks into the doorway of the little antique shop. The sun wasn’t that high yet, though that little bit of walking from the station definitely got him a bit warm under the collar. He tugs at it as he looks around at all the towering merchandise.

“Ren-ren!” Ryuji calls with a hint of surprise. He emerges from behind the little curtain that separates the rest of the place from the small kitchen and sitting counter toward the back of the store.

“Good morning.” Ren greets sheepishly, for some reason he wanted to rub a hand through his hair in embarrassment. He smiles at Ryuji who returns it.

“Good morning!” Morgana says.

“It’s nice seeing you here, man.” Ren walks up to the counter and puts his bag down on a chair and Morgana leaps out to join them.

“Ay, no cats on the bar.” Ryuji says, arms crossed as he tries to imitate Sojiro. Ren snickers and Morgana starts batting at Ryuji, ensuing a mock battle of hands between them.

“Yeah, I should’ve come by sooner, to be honest. Slow morning?” Ren asks, sitting in one of the little cracked red stools.

"Yeah, but that’s normal for this place." Ryuji gestures at the rest of the store. Ren's eyes follow from his motion to their surroundings.

As expected of an antique shop really, it’s kind of dusty, cluttered, and the decor changes all the time, what with random merchandise leaving and going. It's not really the type of place Ren would expect Ryuji to work in, but it’s a good look for him. The few moments Ryuji gets to show off his cooking isn’t a bad deal either, in Ren’s opinion. Since he thinks that Ryuji looks particularly handsome in an apron.

"Hey," Ren says, propping a cheek on a fist on the counter and smiling up impertinently, all tilted jawline at the other boy, "mind whipping up something for me? You got house special ‘round here?"

Ryuji barks out a laugh, "We don't have anything like that here, we ain't that fancy!" But he mimes rolling up his sleeves all the same, "but don't worry, I gotchu."

"Make something for me too."

"Yeah, I didn't forget about you, not-a-cat. But for real, the two of you are like frickin’ street cats that just wandered in, whinin’ for handouts."

Ren can't deny it. The two of them sitting primly looking up at Ryuji with eager looks on their faces. Instead, he responds with a “nya~” and a curled up fist next to his face. He gets a hard knock on his head for his efforts. Morgana sighs in shame.

Ryuji turns to the stove behind him, residual smile pulling at his lips.

Before long, the sounds of oil popping fills the air, and Ren occupies himself observing the morning light slanting through the open doorway. The door stays wide open all day, this place isn’t equipped with an air conditioning unit and Ren appreciates how full of the world it feels inside the store for that fact.

The chirps of morning birds, bicycle bells ringing as they whiz past the door, a tiny radio hidden by the doorway blasts an unrecognizable tune that could have come from any era. Combined with the eternal whirring of the fan in the kitchen, turning its head back and forth continuously, it's unbearingly summery. Ren kind of loves it.

There is an unhurried air here, like a brighter-lit Leblanc. Blinking slowly, Ren feels the effects of Ryuji’s bright presence penetrating his mood like a cloud entwining into his own. His once grey cloudy mood broken through with rays of sunlight. The sizzles of cooking, Ryuji’s occasional mumbles and humming; Ren basks in a floaty bubble of these things.

When he’s knocked out of his daze, it’s from the clunk of a plate dropping onto the table next to his face.

"Here ya go! The Ryuji special." He grins, a proud grin on his face as Ren takes the dish he made, omurice, with a smaller serving for Morgana on the side. The steaming rice and egg smells amazing and Ren feels his stomach growling. After hurriedly saying his thanks, Ren digs in.

While he eats, one customer comes in, and Ryuji calls out another boisterous greeting that makes Ren laugh again. Ryuji’s voice can gain volume so quickly and without warning. Peaking somewhere high in the atmosphere like hazy summer cirrocumulus clouds.

Ren watches as Ryuji helps the customer look for something - it seems to be a large vase? A large flowery vase? A large _ugly_ vase for sure - Ryuji exudes energy, gesturing and bringing a smile to their face. Eventually, after they have picked up a couple of odds and ends, Ryuji waves to them from the door. Gesticulating wildly for them to have a good day.

Ren smiles into his rice. He wipes it from his mouth before the other boy returns.

After he’s finished his food, he's promptly on his way, just so he doesn't distract Ryuji the whole day from his job. Before he goes, him and Morgana both get ruffles on their heads. Morgana makes indignant noises while Ren takes to the attention without a complaint.

Before he leaves his friend, Ren says farewell to Ryuji, who stands in the doorway, this time waving at him with that signature sunny smile of his.

“Come back anytime!”

It's when he's wandering down the street, colorful store awnings and the high blue sky and bright sunlight abloom in his vision that he hears his name being called. He turns around confusedly to see a wildly summerful blob of color tearing down the pavement at him. It seems even the sunlight has come to life, following this blob in wavy strands. Is he dreaming?

"Ren! Ren!" a bright voice he recognizes as Ann’s, barreling into him with arms wide, and he is forced to catch her around the waist.

"It's amazing that I caught you here!" Ann says. He notices, once she’s pulled back, that she is dressed fancier than usual.

"Lady Ann!"

"Hello, Morgana." She aims a beam of a smile at him.

"Going to a photoshoot?" Ren asks, looking at her features closely. The area right underneath her eyes blush with pink, emphasizing her luminous blue eyes and lending an even more cheerful charm than she possesses usually. Her lips are shiny and glossed.

"Yeah," she sighs, visibly deflating, "it's gonna be a long day."

"But!" Ann straightens, "look, they had a deal today for extra large shaved ices." She holds them up to him with a starstruck look towards them befitting of national treasures. "You can have one." She says, graciously.

"T-thank you." he liberates her of one of the monstrous treats. In his hand it’s a pinstripe wheel of colored syrup that seeps down through a generous mountain of ice. Freezing the hand holding it immediately.

She leads them to the little tables placed right outside the shop Ann bought the ices from. What Ren imagines to be flavors of pineapple and strawberry and blue hawaii and another flavor he doesn't recognize melts on his tongue. What he doesn't appreciate as much in sweetness, he can in texture, these ices are admirably crunchy.

"The green one's guava, I looove it in these." Ann enthuses with a happy sigh. She spoons it into her mouth, kicking her feet a bit under her chair. In order to do so, she has to lift her knees for her feet to not touch the ground, but she manages regardless.

Ren is still staring, transfixed by the subtle changes in her appearance. His observance is aided by the light reflecting off the pale pavement onto Ann's face. Being lit from the bottom usually creates an unflattering effect for most people but of course since it's Ann, she still looks great.

"Hey, what's going on? Is there something on my face?" Ann asks, brushing at her chin and cheeks. Ren notices that she has coral pink nail polish on as well.

"No you don't." Ren blinks. "You look really nice. That's all. They're having you try a different makeup style this time?"

"You and Yusuke are the only guys I know that can tell the difference," She grins, "But yeah, they want to shoot some fun, summer outfits, so I went with a lighter, cutesy look." She winks, blowing a kiss; looking like she came straight off a magazine with slogans like, _The Best Hairdos For The Beach!_ and _How To Make the Perfect Summer Outfit_

"Think I'll look good with that style?" Ren bats his eyelashes at her, nonchalantly spooning more ice into his mouth.

"Oh, hmm, if you want to look more innocent, I guess, like all glowy." She leans toward him and grabs his chin, tilting his head this way and that. "You'll look good, how can you not, but it wouldn't fit your whole vibe.” She adopts a mischievous air, looking like Mika when she's setting another trap for Ann. “If you had this style, I would be wondering who are you asking to be your sugar daddy the entire time!"

Cackling, "then I'll ask you when you're gonna slit his throat and leave him for dead."

Ren looks at her with exaggerated wide eyes, "You shouldn't give me ideas, Ann."

She rolls her eyes, "Yeah, whatever, if you had that makeup on and took off your glasses, you’d be unstoppable. I might fall for you. Sorry, Morgana."

With a sigh of the weight of a thousand lost loves, Morgana answers from where he's sat by her feet, "I'm used to this by now, don't worry."

"Then you need to do your worst." Ren says, giving her a wink of his own.

"Okay, playboy." She tsks, cupping his chin in her manicured hand one last time. "Next time, I have to get going or I'll be late." She pats his cheek, standing up and glittering under the sun. Her legs go on for what feels like forever.

"Bye, cuties." She calls as she strides away. One hand up in a wide-fingered wave.

"Thanks for the treat."

"See you, Lady Ann!"

Ren sits in a daze, full from the omurice and ice sitting in his belly. He watches the shadows shorten as the sun rises, everything within sight exposed and glaring and baking.

"Let's - let's get going," He murmurs eventually, swaying to his feet and picking up his bag once Morgana has jumped in, "I can't fall asleep here."

He rubs his eyes. "Being able to fall asleep anywhere is actually a curse."

Ren takes the train to the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library. Large, cool, and winding, it's a natural habitat for one braid adorned third year in particular.

He finds her tapping her mechanical pencil against her notebook, legs crossed, posture straight even now as she is deep in thought. He approaches her, making his entrance clear as he swings his bag into an empty chair and sits down in the seat across from her.

Ruby red eyes look up in irritation for a brief moment before Makoto recognizes who has invited themselves into her de facto secret hideout.

"Ah. Ren." She says evenly, reaching up to brush her bangs out of non-existent disarray. "What are you doing here?"

Ren's leaning back in his chair, and he grins lazily at her now. "No faith that I'll be here to study, huh?"

"No, I believe in your capabilities. You'll study enough to pass by," She smiles, "it's not near the end of break yet though, I think you'd rather do other things for now, probably, am I right?"

He doesn't comment on her confidence in knowing his habits. It's not a bad guess, and she gets into a big funk after studying where her brain goes miles a minute. It happens when you get used to being smarter than everyone around you.

"You're right, I'm here to see you. Brought you something." He lifts a bag onto the table, taking out a bottle of tea and some mildly sweet lemon cakes. Makoto's eyes widen as he pushes it to her.

"You didn't have to!" She says, although she looks delighted at the offer of a break anyway.

"Getting you out of your head for a bit, a leader has to look after his teammates after all. And you, miss, forget to eat sometimes when working." He drawls.

Makoto tears as politely as one can into the plastic packaging on the lemon cakes. She's disciplined, and it reminds Ren of what he was like before all of this. Nowadays, he has other things on his mind than being straight-laced.

Morgana gets up to wander through the bookshelves with promises not to let attendants catch sight of him. Ren imagines it to be fun: being a thief among humans like Morgana is, weaving in and out of the bookshelves with serpentine grace.

All Ren has is lying prostrate on the cool wooden library table as Makoto asks what he's been doing. It has passed noon, after all. She says she arrived sometime around 10. He watches her fingers wrapped around the cakes and the shifting light outside the windows and yawns. This place was nothing like the dusty library in his hometown.

Although if he lets his mind wander, it's not hard to see the ghosts of his past: immeasurable leaves overlapping their shadows from the window into the room, dust motes floating through the air, and the scent of old books. The person across from him can be his older sister as she studies, before he gets up to leave her to it. He was never one for academics.

"Do you want to rest?" Makoto's voice sounds from above him, careful and measured as ever. "You sound like you had an eventful morning."

"Attendants don't mind?" Ren mumbles.

She chuckles gently. "I'm here often enough that they'll excuse a truant friend of mine."

Ren hums. Soon enough, the sounds of plastic wrap die down, unscrewing and screwing of the bottled drink appears briefly, before a book is flipped open. The slide of pages familiar like breathing, like cicadas, like the sound of cooking in a cafe, before Ren closes his eyes and drifts off.

Hours later, he wakes up groggy. Slowly opening his eyes, he tries to identify what woke him up. As he sits and thinks dazedly, he realized that it wasn't so much something from the outside world that did the job, but the remnants of his dream signals that it was his betrayer of a brain that disturbed his sleep.

"Had a good nap?" Makoto asks.

"Mnn," Ren didn't look at her, not yet.

Something about the day, the summer, Makoto studying, the downtime, nips away at his mind's defenses. It meant his dreams was littered with his older sister, sitting out on the house bench eating sweet treats just because someone had picked them up on the way home, elegant hands on a guitar, the faint wisps of smiles on faces that he never caught a clear glance at in his sleep.

Deep in thought, he feels himself relaxing regardless of his contemplation wherein he tries to grab ahold of his dreams and their terribleness. It’s many minutes before he's cognizant of a hand entwining through his hair repeatedly. He sighs.

Makoto moves her face around to make him look at her. "Is it nice?"

"Yeah."

"I'm glad." She says, rubbing curls between her fingers and inadvertently tugging at them when she runs her fingers through.

"How is your hair so mind-boggling." Makoto laughs.

He shrugs. His sisters' hair isn't as curly as his, otherwise it would be a pain to brush all the time for them. His younger sister almost wanted a short haircut like his at some point.

Ren gets up, still looking out the window at the light, it must be about 2 now. A glance at his watch confirms this thought. He chooses to dismiss himself for now.

"I'll leave you to your studying."

As uncomfortable as summer can be, it's a reminder of the order in the world. A reprieve from the cool artificial dimness of the library. Where the life lay deep in pages and inked words, out here it was teeming in the air. Circling in the heat, bearing down on him. It was an oppressive warmth that reminded him how alive the world was.

Morgana is quiet in his bag and his feet directs him through the streets. He seeks a secluded area, so he goes to Shiba Park nearby. Trekking up steps and dodging tourists to a little secluded bench under a pavilion on a hill overlooking skyscrapers nearby. The swimming humidity chokes his breath and his arms are sticky from sweat after the minor climb.

His body had been on auto-pilot. Ren's body swam through the heat and his mind swam through the miasma of his thoughts. He misses his home and hates it all at the same time. Once again, he gets lost in what he should've done, whether he was enough for his family, for his friends.

"It's a nice view up here, huh?" Morgana says, stretching after getting out of the bag and perching next to Ren. Ren sits with his hands braced on his knees. He closes his eyes.

He's home, no wait, he's in Tokyo.

No. No. Don't make him go. Not to Tokyo, he doesn't know anything about -

Morgana is there, appearing out of the fog.

“Why did you fall asleep again?” He says, pawing at his face.

“Sorry,” Ren says, “sometimes I feel better about things when I’m unconscious.”

"I'll lead you then."

Their journey leads them through towers. They are stacks of books, red brick, grey steel, plastic bound, books about demons and thieves.

“We’re waiting for you.” When he turns around, he’s on a street baking bright under the sun. Four figures stand before him, faces hidden in shadow, but he knows without seeing that it is his family.

He shakes his head. An inexplicable anger overtakes him, then he’s running, chasing. It takes so much effort because his goddamn feet are lead, and each step drains the meager strength he has out of him.

They’re turning away from him. Their long shadows dark. He cries, overcome with despair. His mouth opens in a silent scream; it’s a movement he’s unaccustomed to making and so, his grief and anger surprises him. It’s a sharp contrast to the impassive face he tries to keep on his face through daily life.

Before long, the shadows fade away into the distance and he is all alone, and he sits on the ground, crying. But anger stirs him again.

He struggles to his feet, every motion not enough, requiring more of him than he is capable. He is intent on seeking them out, his surroundings turned into what seems to be a winding indoor mall. The colors of the shops are indecipherable shining lights and jumbled signs he stumbles through, finding himself lost and finding nothing.

Nevertheless, somehow his troubling dream doesn’t wake him in a fit, suddenly and thrown, instead he surfaces from its hold simply leaning against the wooden post of the overhang.

The hill faces the east, and as the sun continues to set, the trees overhead cast sleepy shadows that bleed with the purples and oranges of the sky. His heart bleeds similarly, hurtful unnamed emotions clenching it tight in a stranglehold so he panics in silence. Why is this happening to him?

“I see you’ve awaken.”

As though he is still dreaming, he accepts this new development rather easily, people appearing without notice, that is. When Ren turns he finds a strange scene.

There’s a Yusuke, who is strange, beautiful and discerning, but there is also an interesting assortment of flowers scattered about him. White gerber daisies, their thick green stems lying forlorn behind them, and sprigs of little forget-me-nots are the ones he recognizes first. While he automatically reaches out and threads his fingers through the stems of the blue flowers - smiling at the feeling of the small little blossoms on his skin - he almost doesn’t mind his abrupt company.

When he notices he has taken a considerable amount of time admiring the flowers in silence, Yusuke still hasn’t said another word. He’s situated himself with his legs crossed and his sketchpad clutched in his left arm, he doesn’t pay a mind to the world. While Ren stares blatantly at him, he doesn’t even seem to register Ren’s gaze, occasionally glancing up at Ren. It appears he’s content sketching Ren’s countenance; whatever expression it is that Ren is sporting now. He imagines it’s a bit lost, trusting, perhaps a bit of wonderment, although sometimes these things tend to get lost in his piercing eyes, he knows.

Regardless, when Yusuke is finished with his sketches, he just sits there, looking at it. Expression discernable. What he sees through his eyes can only be keenly felt through the raw energy and care in his paintings.

“I figured it would be a fruitful exercise to practice portraits that mimic those of old royalty.” The other boy says unprompted, folding and putting his sketchpad to the side. “With cut flowers to represent their excess wealth to waste on such short-lived pleasures, but when paired with you, Ren, it evokes a completely different feeling. And the look in your eyes, I wonder what it will end up being in my painting.”

“Extravagance and simplicity, perhaps you’ll be able to help me capture it, Ren.”

He walks toward Ren, coming around in front of him. Ren doesn't flinch or even react much, something about the atmosphere feels slow: the pleasant, warm breeze that graces them, paired with the dreamy landscape of their surroundings may not cast a spell exactly, but allows for actions that wouldn't occur to the mind otherwise.

In this case, Ren has no qualms whatsoever when Yusuke exerts concentrated physical influence on something more than his art supplies for once: with a warm hand he slides onto Ren's right cheek, cupping it gently. They find that his slender hand is large enough to curve from Ren’s chin to eye. The seated boy leans briefly into the hand, feeling sweet, he lets his lashes flutter gently against skin.

A chuckle escaped Yusuke, an unbidden mirth as he laughs to himself.

“What is it?”

“Oh, I was just thinking of how such otherworldliness can exist on this earth.” Yusuke says, shaking his head to himself as he retracts his hand.

“Hey! What’s going on?”

Morgana leaps onto the bench, appearing from the brush like a wild animal. He lies down and curling around a daisy.

“Ah, don’t move Morgana.” Yusuke kneels down and takes out his phone. While Morgana assumes a perfect model, staring into the lens with his almost eerie blue eyes, Yusuke snaps various photos.

“You two are quite the pair of models.” He says later, looking down at the photos. Ren and Morgana look at each other in mild confusion with no explanation forthcoming from the other boy.

After they have descended the hill, Yusuke sticks some of the flowers into Ren’s bag.

“There you are, some fresh flowers for Leblanc.”

They separate not long after, Yusuke citing needing to pick up something on the way home. He assures he has enough money for it but Ren manages to convince him to take some as payment for the flowers. He watches Yusuke’s back walking away from him, and with a glance toward Morgana in his bag, starts heading to the closest station.

Ren was resigned to his silent trek home, thinking over the events of the day with happiness and trepidation, when he looks up, and what he sees stops him in his tracks.

Just a single detective, walking to a bicycle chained on the sidewalk and placing a bag into the basket. As Ren watches, he unties his hair, reaching back to tie it again neater, and that’s when he glances around and notices Ren standing on the sidewalk.

“Akechi.”

“Amamiya,” Akechi inclines his head, still looking like he’d rather just get on his bike and leave Ren in its dust.

Ren grins, Akechi grimaces.

“Buying dinner?” Ren asks, sauntering forward and glancing at the bag wrapped around the shape of one of those ready-made dinner bowls.

“Yes.” Akechi says with a rather convincing crinkling of his eyes, “now, I’ll be on my way. It was nice seeing you -”

“Have you ever thought,” Ren interrupts quickly, he stands close to the bicycle but doesn’t laying a hand on it. “Of biking home at twilight, and the sky’s all pretty, like right now, actually,” he gestures, “and you have one boy whose just as pretty as the sky, sitting behind you, and you’ve got his arms around your waist -”

“I got your point, Amamiya.” Akechi snaps, he looks around at their surroundings, shaking his head, “why do you think I would enjoy something like that anyway…”

Grin unfaltering, Ren waggles his eyebrows in obvious show. Akechi blushes and looks away.

“I thought you liked spending time with me, Akechi, pattering on whenever we see each other.” He watches as Akechi swings one leg over the bike, and he follows suit.

“I just wasn’t expecting to see you today, of all places in the city.”

“This okay?” Ren places one hanf on Akechi’s shoulder to steady himself, he was playing it up, but at the steady pace they were going, he probably didn’t need to hug Akechi’s waist.

“Yes.” says Akechi’s voice blowing on the wind back to him.

He cycles steadily, working his way up inclines - making quips at Ren of being heavy - he sails down the road and sweeps around corners with swooshes that sets the wind to Ren’s hair.

He lays his cheek against Akechi’s shoulder, feeling the rhythm of his legs working through the contact.

“Nothing about today was what I expected, though.” Ren says.

“What in the world did you do?”

In a few brief words, he gave Akechi a retelling of his journey today.

“It’s almost not really what happened that mattered, it was the feeling I get from all of this. That I’m still thinking about.”

“Well, as they say, we are young, in a large city that has much to offer, it seems that you did well to get out of your shell.”

“Hmm, sometimes, if only regrets didn’t hold me back so much.”

“Regrets? I would like to hear about your ghosts, in return I’ll tell you my own, let’s trade stories, Amamiya.”

“Hound me about it next time, oh great detective.”

Akechi huffs, “As the great detective you say I am, I _will_ dig your brain. Amamiya.”

Making more idle chit-chat, Ren watches the city roll by in wonderment: the ocean blue sky, fiery yellow lights, and psychedelic attractions an amusing blur as his eyes unfocus. People’s voices call and go, bursts of laughter and recognition as the night draws dark but the city forges on. Feeling the vitality of the world around him makes Ren glad for many things in this moment; glad he’s alive, glad for the fortunes he has right now, so he too forges on.

When they reach Yongen-jaya, Akechi lets him off, a hint of a smile in his face as they say their goodbyes and Ren bades him a safe trip home.

While his feet lead him through the narrow alleyways, letting Morgana down to walk alongside him and explore, greeting familiar faces, his phone vibrates suddenly. Many times.

  
**「Ryuji」**hey man, thanks for dropping by  
its always good to see you  
what i mean is....i miss you  
aghghnk just come by whenever you want, ill cook for you again

  
More.

**「Ann」**ren!!!! we’re gonna have a girls night out and i’ll do what i want to your face!!! ヾ(๑╹ꇴ◠๑)ﾉ” you watch out i’m coming for your pretty face!!!!

And more.

**「Makoto」**i apologize if i seem a bit hard to reach nowadays, i appreciate your effort to come see me despite it all. hopefully i’ll be free soon enough to come visit you.

More and more.

**「Yusuke」**Ren  
Do you feel an angel or a devil represents you better?  
Perhaps an alien……?

1 more.

**「Akechi」**I have reached my apartment, updating you as requested. I’ll see you soon.

Ren reads all of them. Then again.

He looks up and sees the backstreets of Yongen-Jaya; verdant leaves fall off trees around him and the light spilling from shops and homes nearby.

He recalls the faces of those he loves and laughs; looking to the sky for the moon and imagining the bright stars hidden behind the light pollution. It’s the memories of these stars in his life that keep him grounded. Unlike the ones in the sky, he can reach out to those in his life.

Never alone. Not now.

**Author's Note:**

> in light of his p5r trailer i wanna write more goofy ren soon. this boy is so fun!!!
> 
> erm if you wanna talk fanfic and renren im on twitter @[brynhildvelvet](https://twitter.com/brynhildvelvet)


End file.
